Guardiola laments about Saudi Arabia changing the transfer market

Manchester City coach, Pep Guardiola has shared his thoughts about top players moving to Saudi Arabia this summer.

Cristiano Ronaldo was the first big-name player to head to the Saudi Pro League, joining Al-Nassr in December of last year, and has since been joined in the Middle East by the likes of Karim Benzema, Ruben Neves, and N’Golo Kante. A number of Premier League stars have also swapped England for Saudi Arabia.

Not only do the clubs from Saudi pay transfer fees above the market value of certain players (Neves was signed for €55m, Malcom was signed for €60m), but they are also offering outrageous wages (case in point, Ronaldo earning £177m per year at Al-Nassr). Former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, who is off to play for Al-Ettifaq FC, will reportedly be earning £700,000 a week, which is more than 3 times what he earned with the Reds.

Speaking in South Korea as the English continue their pre-season tour, Guardiola stated that few months, it was difficult to imagine top-class players choosing to move to the Middle East country.

When asked if City would be signing a replacement for Riyad Mahrez and how the recent trend of top footballers joining the Saudi Arabia Pro League has changed the market, Pep Guardiola said;

“We are not looking for a replacement for Riyad in terms of skill because every player is different.

“Saudi Arabia has changed the market. A few months ago, when Cristiano [Ronaldo] was the only one to go, no one thought this many top, top players would play in the Saudi league.

“In the future there will be more and that’s why clubs need to be aware of what is happening. Riyad got an incredible offer [from Al-Ahli] and that’s why we could not say ‘don’t do it’.”

The team’s pre-season tour continues on Sunday with a friendly against Atlético Madrid in Seoul. City beat Bayern Munich 2-1 in Tokyo on Wednesday and play Arsenal in the Community Shield next Sunday.